A method and system for reducing the cost of a vacuum processing system by utilizing separately fabricated parts for the walls and the tops and bottoms of chambers. Walls are formed from cylinders (e.g., aluminum tubing or rolled ring forgings), and plates are then hermetically sealed to the top and bottom of the cylinder. Fasteners (and the vacuum inside the chamber) clamp the plates to the cylinder.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A vacuum processing system comprising: top and bottom plates; a first chamber wall separately formed from the top and bottom plates; a second chamber wall separately formed from the top and bottom plates and first chamber wall; a single alignment plate including upper and lower mating surfaces, disposed between the first chamber wall and second chamber wall and connecting the bottom of the first chamber wall to the top of the second chamber wall via the upper and lower mating surfaces, respectively; fasteners extending from the top plate to the bottom plate and configured to seal the top and bottom plates to the first and second chamber walls and to seal the first chamber wall to the second chamber wall via the alignment plate, respectively.
2. The improvement as claimed in claim 1 , wherein one of the chamber walls is formed as a tube.
3. The improvement as claimed in claim 1 , wherein one of the chamber walls is formed as an aluminum tube.
4. The improvement as claimed in claim 1 , wherein one of the chamber walls is formed as a rolled ring forging.
5. The improvement as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising O-rings for sealing the top and bottom plates to the chamber walls.
6. The improvement as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the fasteners comprise all-thread fasteners, nuts and washers.
7. The improvement as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the fasteners comprise a latch and a hinge for the top plate.
8. The improvement as claimed in claim 1 , wherein one of the chamber walls comprises a chamber wall having machined channels for passing at least one of a heating element and a coolant.
9. The improvement as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the fasteners seal the top and bottom plates to the first and second chamber walls without passing through the first and second chamber walls.
10. A variable height vacuum chamber system comprising: top and bottom plates; a first chamber wall separately formed from the top and bottom plates; a second chamber wall formed separately from the top and bottom plates and from the first chamber wall; fasteners extending from the top plate to the bottom plate and configured to seal the top and bottom plates to the first and second chamber walls, respectively, and a single alignment plate including upper and lower mating surfaces configured to fit between the first and second chamber walls and to connect a bottom of the first chamber wall to a top of the second chamber wall via the upper and lower mating surfaces respectively, wherein the fasteners are configured to seal the first chamber wall to the second chamber wall via the alignment plate.
11. The vacuum chamber, as claimed in claim 10 , wherein one of the chamber walls is formed as a tube.
12. The vacuum chamber, as claimed in claim 10 , wherein one of the chamber walls is formed as an aluminum tube.
13. The vacuum chamber, as claimed in claim 10 , wherein one of the chamber walls is formed as a rolled ring forging.
14. The vacuum chamber, as claimed in claim 10 , further comprising O-rings for sealing the top and bottom plates to the first and second chamber walls, respectively.
15. A plasma processing system of variable height comprising: a substrate holder; a robotic system for transporting substrates onto the substrate holder; an RF power coupling device; and a vacuum chamber, including: top and bottom plates; a first chamber wall separately formed from the top and bottom plates; a second chamber wall separately formed from the top and bottom plates and from the first chamber wall; fasteners extending from the top plate to the bottom plate and configured to seal the top and bottom plates to the first and second chamber walls and to seal the first chamber wall to the second chamber wall via the alignment plate, respectively, and a single alignment plate including upper and lower mating surfaces configured to fit between the first and second chamber walls and to connect a bottom of the first chamber wall to a top of the second chamber wall via the upper and lower mating surfaces, respectively.
16. A method of fabricating a vacuum chamber, comprising: forming a chamber wall as a first tube; forming a second chamber wall as a second tube; forming a chamber top as a first plate; forming a chamber bottom as a second plate; sealing the chamber bottom to the second tube and sealing the chamber top to the first tube, and sealing the first tube to the second tube via a single alignment plate using fasteners extending from the chamber top to the chamber bottom.
17. The method as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the step of forming the chamber wall comprises forming one of the chamber walls as a round tube.
18. The method as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the step of forming one of the chamber walls comprises forming one of the chamber walls as an aluminum tube.
19. The method as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the step of forming one of the chamber walls comprises forming one of the chamber walls as a rolled forging.
20. The method as claimed in claim 16 , further comprising placing an O-ring between one of the chamber walls and at least one of the chamber bottom and the chamber top.
21. A vacuum processing system comprising: top and bottom plates; a first chamber wall; a second chamber wall; and means for connecting the bottom plate to the first chamber wall, the first chamber wall to the second chamber wall, and the second chamber wall to the top plate as a stack.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
May 7, 2002
January 23, 2007
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